Prestressed floor-covering protector mat

ABSTRACT

A mat for use beneath a desk chair for the protection of carpeting, and the like, therebeneath, which mat has a convex upper surface and a concave lower surface providing downwardly disposed peripheral edge portions for grippingly engaging the pile of the carpet upon which the mat rests while also facilitating the movement of a desk chair on an off the mat, as required, and further significantly reducing the possibility of a person catching their foot on the edge of the mat when stepping onto the mat. The underside of the mat is characterized by a multitude of downwardly projecting fibrous tentacles and intersecting scoring which materially assist the downwardly disposed peripheral edge portions in stabilizing the mat against sliding movement relative to the carpeting upon which it is utilized.

United States Patent 1,756,380 4/1930 Osborn Inventor William Dwight Porter 3002 Avenue L., Council Bluffs, Iowa 51501 Appl. No. 744,385

Filed July 12, 1968 Patented Oct. 26, 1971 PRESTRESSED FLOOR-COVERING PROTECTOR Primary Examiner-Douglas J. Drummond Atrorneys-Clarence A. OBrien and Harvey B. Jacobson ABSTRACT: A mat for use beneath a desk chair for the protection of carpeting, and the like, therebeneath, which mat has a convex upper surface and a concave lower surface providing downwardly disposed peripheral edge portions for grippingly engaging the pile of the carpet upon which the mat rests while also facilitating the movement of a desk chair on an off the mat, as required, and further significantly reducing the possibility of a person catching their foot on the edge of the' mat when stepping onto the mat. The underside of the mat is characterized by a multitude of downwardly projecting fibrous tentacles and intersecting scoring which materially assist the downwardly disposed peripheral edge portions in stabilizing the mat against sliding movement relative to the carpeting upon which it is utilized.

PRESTIRESSEID FLOOR-COVERING PROTECTOR MAT The present invention relates to a method of making a floorcovering protector mat for use beneath a chair and the mat produced as a result thereof.

Floor protector mats provided heretofore are not entirely satisfactory for the purpose intended particularly with respect to their tendency, in use, to curl upwardly at the edges thereof thus creating a hazardous condition whereby a person stepping onto the mat can readily catch their feet on the edge of the mat and stumble. In addition, while attempts have been made to provide floor protector mats for desk chairs which include a means for reducing or eliminating slippage of the floor mat over the floor covering on which it is positioned, which it will be appreciated is generally a carpet, such prior attempts have been somewhat less than satisfactory inasmuch as much stabilizing means generally assist in increasing the tendency for the mat to curl upwardly at the edges. This is particularly true since the prior art holding means stress the mat by causing it to have to bridge between the holding devices thus creating relatively unsupported areas of the mat which tend to flex sufficiently to create the aforementioned problem adjacent the edge thereof as well as deleteriously affect the useful life of the mat as a result of an inordinate amount of flexing thereof.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a prestressed floor-covering protector mat wherein the entire mat, and particularly the peripheral edge portion thereof, rests on, or even below, the surface of the carpet pile upon which it is placed so as to preclude sliding movement of the protector mat relative to the carpet while at the same time significantly reduce the likelihood for a person to inadvertently catch their feet on the peripheral edge of the mat when stepping onto the mat in order to seat themselves in a chair normally positioned thereon.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of making a concavo-convex floor-covering protector mat for desk chairs, and the like, which mat is characterized by a downwardly disposed peripheral edge portion and a somewhat concave undersurface which, in use, tends to come into surface-to-surface contact with the floor covering without bringing about sufficient upward displacement of the peripheral edge portions of the mat to raise the peripheral edge portions clear of the carpet.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a floor-covering protector mat having a multitude of downwardly projecting fibrous tentacles on the lower surface thereof which materially assist in substantially eliminating sliding movement of the protector mat over the surface of a floor covering, i.e., carpeting upon which the protector mat is placed.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a floor protector mat for use beneath desk chairs, and the like, primarily for the protection of carpeting, wherein the undersurface of the mat includes a series of intersecting scorings as well as downwardly projecting fibrous tentacles to grip, and be gripped by, the carpet fibers.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction, method and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prestressed floor-covering protector mat made in accordance with the method of the present invention and shown positioned upon a carpet with a desk chair positioned thereon;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged transverse vertical cross-sectional view showing the concavo-convex configuration, somewhat exaggerated, of the mat in the absence of a chair thereon;

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 2 showing the somewhat flattened configuration of the floor protector mat with a desk chair positioned thereon; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view, taken along the plane of the line 44 of FIG. 1, showing details of the undersurface, edge portion and prestressing sealing coatings provided on the floor protector mat.

Referring now to the drawings, numeral 10 designates an exemplary form of a prestressed floor-covering protector mat for chairs produced in accordance with an exemplary mode of making the same which is set forth hereinafter. The mat 10, which for purposes of illustration only, is shown as a Tshaped member, such as conventionally utilized. in conjunction with office desks for the protection of, and ease of movement, of a desk chair over a floor covering, such as carpeting, designated by the numeral 12.

The protector mat 10 comprises a sheetlike body member 14 such as comprising tempered or untempered composition board, such as for example, that distributed by Masonite Corp. under the trademark Masonite which :is a fiberboard made from pressed wood fibers. However, and as will become more apparent hereinafter other relatively rigid fibrous sheet material can be utilized as long as the undersurface thereof is, or can be made to have, indents therein and fibrous tentacles depending downwardly therefrom.

The protector mat 10 is provided with a beveled peripheral edge as indicated at 16 which together with the downwardly disposed peripheral edge portion 18 cooperates, in use, to stabilize the mat 10 against sliding movement relative to the carpet 12 and also maintain the peripheral corner edge 20 at, or below, the upper surface of the carpet 12, as seen best in FIG. 3. From a consideration of FIG. 2 it will be seen that the noload configuration of the protector mat 10 is concavo-convex, i.e., the undersurface 22 is concave and the upper surface 24 is convex.

As seen best in FIG. 4 the underside 22 of the protector mat I10, and more specifically the sheetlike body portion 14 thereof, is characterized by scoring, or indentations forming hills and valleys 26 and 28 respectively and a multitude of fibrous tentacles 30 depending downwardly from the member 114 which it will be understood intersect with similar scoring generally running normal thereto. It will be understood that the fibrous tentacles 30 are extensions of the compressed fibers making up the body member 14. In this regard, the composition board utilized to make the mat 10 may be initially produced by the supplier thereof with a calendered, or smooth, upper surface 24 and a scored and tentacled lower surface 22 or the composition board utilized if not so initially produced it may be treated by suitable means to provide the upper and lower surfaces, 24 and 22 respectively, with the aforementioned tentacles and scoring. In this regard, for example, otherwise suitable composite sheet material could be prepared for utilization in the practice of the present invention by the use of suitable abrading means to provide the smooth and tentacled surfaces 24 and 22 respectively. The lower surface of the member 14 is protected, and the fibrous tentacles 30 somewhat stiffened by a protective coating, as indicated at 32 provided on the lower surface 22 of the member 14 but not of sufiicient depth to fully encapsulate the tentacles 30 whereby they would not be depending from" the lower surface 22. In addition, and as will become more apparent during discussion of the method of forming the mat 10 which follows hereinafter, the upper surface 24 of the body member 14 is provided with one or more coatings, as indicated by the laminae 34 and 36 which in addition to protecting and decorating the upper surface 24 of the mat 10 also comprise a means of prestressing the member 14 into the aforementioned concave-convex no-load configuration.

Referring now to the method of making the prestressed protector mat 10, a tempered or untempered sheet of Masonite, such as one fourth inch in thickness, and having a smooth upper surface and a scored, tentacled lower surface is cut to the desired plan shape, such as for example shown in FIG. 1, and the mat jigged by suitable means in such a manner that opposed edges are urged toward one another causing the body 14 to arch upwardly so that the top surface 24 of the member 14 becomes convex, i.e., the center of the member 14 is higher than the outer edges, preparatory to applying the previously mentioned coatings 32, 34 and 36.

Subsequent to jigging the member 14 in the aforementioned manner, the lower surface 22 of the member 14 is coated with a varnish or other suitable conventional coating 32 and whereby the fibrous tentacles 30 are further raised" by the coating, i.e., depend downwardly from the lower surface 22, in needlelike fashion and wherein the coating 32 simultaneously seals the undersurface 22 of the member 14 so that moisture can not affect the lower surface 22 of the member 14 to cause upward curling of the corner edge 20 of the mat 10.

Upon completion of application of the coating 32 to the lower surface 22 of the member 14, the upper surface 24 thereof islthen coated with suitable conventional resins or varnishes, i.e., a urethane-based coating, etc. and wherein the initial coating 36 upon wetting the fibers adjacent the upper surface 24 allows permanent stretching thereof under the influence of the concave-convex jigging and whereby when dry the fibers remain relatively elongated and thus cause prestressing of the member 14 in the concavo-convex configuration to such stretching of the fibers. Thus, while the initial coat 36 materially assists in prestressing the member 14, the coating 34, and any other successive coats applied, cooperate to fully seal the upper surface 24 of the member 14 in the aforementioned prestressed condition where the member 14 when removed from the previously described jig is characterized by a concavoconvex nonload configuration. From the foregoing, and as previously discussed with regard to FIG. 4, it will now be fully appreciated that the peripheral corner edge 20 is normally downwardly disposed as a result of the jigging and coating described hereinabove. When the mat is in place on a relatively flat resilient surface, such as the surface of the pile of the carpet 12, the corner edge portions 20 are forced somewhat downward from the center by the prestressed member 14 which further assists in resisting upward curling of the periphery of the member 14. The foregoing, in combination with the bevel edge 16 provides a smooth transition between the supporting surface, i.e., carpet 12 and the upper surface of the mat to facilitate rolling movement of a chair such as the chair 40 on and off the mat 10 and also, as previously discussed, significantly minimizes the possibility of a person stumbling when stepping onto the mat 10.

In use, the mat 10 need only be positioned upon the carpet 12 in appropriate relation to a desk, table or the like, not shown, and a chair, such as the chair 40, placed thereon. As a result thereof, the weight of the chair and occupant cause the mat 10 to flex from the generally concavo-convex configuration of FIG. 2 to the generally flat although not entirely flat configuration as shown in FIG. 3, with the peripheral corner edge bearing downwardly into the pile of the carpet l2 and wherein the scored and tentacled lower surface 22 comes into sufficient surface-to-surface contact with the pile of the carpet 12. In doing so, the tentacles embed themselves in the pile of the carpet l2 and conversely the pile of the carpet also engages the scoring as defined by the hills and valleys 26 and 28,

respectively, whereby the mat 10 for all practical purposes is precluded from sliding relative to the carpet 12. Although not specifically mentioned heretofore, the coating 32 on the lower surface 22 of the member 14 can comprise a rubberlike material to further assist in increasing the friction between the mat l0 and the associated supporting surface, particularly if the mat 10 is utilized in conjunction with floor covering such as asphalt or vinyl tile, for example.

it will be appreciated from the foregoing that by carrying forth the aforedescribed method of making a prestressed floor protector mat and by variation of the coloring of the upper coatings 34 and 36 thereon, it is possible to provide highly decorative floor protector mats. In this regard, many possibilities of achieving the desired decorative effect can be utilized without departing from the spirit of the invention. Thus, by the use of variously colored conventional coatings, monograms or decorative laminates on the upper surface 24 of the prestressed member 14 it is possible to duplicate the colors and designs of carpeting, drapes, etc. utilized in the decor of the room within which the mat 10 is utilized.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the pnnciples of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly allsuitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A resilient floor-covering protector mat for supporting a chair comprising a single sheet of relatively rigid fibrous material having generally planar upper and lower surfaces and adapted to be disposed on a floor covering at a location to support a chair, said sheet having a nonload bearing generally concavo-convex configuration with said upper surface being convex and said lower surface being concave, said sheet having a load bearing configuration which is less concave-convex than the nonload bearing configuration, wherein a substantial portion of the lower surface engages the floor covering, means for inhibiting movement of the mat with respect to the floor covering in both the load and nonload configurations including a downwardly disposed peripheral corner edge portion on said sheet defined in part by said lower surface, said sheet having a plurality of coatings, said upper surface of said sheet having at least one of said coatings, a plurality of fibrous tentacles depending downwardly from said lower surface of said sheet, and a coating over said tentacles which raises said tentacles and holds them with a needlelike effect against the floor. covering.

2. The combination of claim 9 wherein said downwardly disposed peripheral corner edge portion is defined in part by a peripheral beveled surface which extends downwardly and outwardly from said upper surface. 

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said downwardly-disposed peripheral corner edge portion is defined in Part by a peripheral beveled surface which extends downwardly and outwardly from said upper surface. 